Why should businesses work on air pollution?
Tackling air pollution benefits people across society – including your customers, employees, and the communities in which you operate. As our research with CBI Economics, Breathing Life into the UK Economy showed, clean air initiatives boost local economies and save lives.
Businesses can catalyse change by reducing emissions across their value chain. They can invest in innovations to tackle air pollution. And they can work with policy makers and other industry leaders to champion the social, economic and climate benefits of tackling air pollution.
Air pollution is closely linked with climate change. The two crises share the same causes and many of the same solutions. By taking joined up action on climate and air quality, businesses can contribute to reaching climate targets. Learn more about air pollution and climate change in our report on joined-up action.
Partnerships between businesses, government, and citizens are essential to improving our air quality.
Priya Shankar India Director – Climate and Environment Program, Bloomberg Philanthropies
How we partner with business
We work with businesses in our key geographies, and globally through the Alliance for Clean Air, which is delivered in partnership with the World Economic Forum.
Examples of our corporate partnerships:
- Conducting research: in partnership with The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), we found that air pollution costs Indian businesses a staggering $95 billion every year due to reduced productivity, work absences and premature deaths. We also worked with CBI to quantify the economic benefit to the UK of meeting the WHO air quality guidelines.
- The Alliance for Clean Air: in partnership with the World Economic Forum, we launched a new corporate alliance with members from industries as diverse as transport, technology and retail. Together they have committed to measure and decrease their air pollution footprint, use their assets to accelerate clean air solutions and champion clean air with customers and other stakeholders. The members include Google, Accenture, Siemens, Biogen and Maersk.
- Funding projects: many of our funders are linked with businesses, such as the IKEA Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The Mahindra Group is proud to be one of the founding members of the Alliance for Clean Air, which aims to tackle the problem of air pollution at scale by helping businesses measure their own impact, influence their value chain and mobilize people and resources to make air breathable for everyone.
Anirban Ghosh – Chief Sustainability Officer of Mahindra Group and one of the ten founding members of the Alliance for Clean Air
